Texas nondiscrimination laws reach 12 cities

As of Monday, June 6, Texas has 12 cities with populations of more than 100,000 that have instituted legislation that establishes protection for residents or city employees based on sexual orientation or gender identity. The newest addition to this list is the city of Mesquite.

For more than ten years, Dallas, Fort Worth, and Austin have held ordinances that protect members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transsexual community from discrimination in employment, housing choices, and public spaces like restaurants and public transportation. Of Texas’ major cities, it is Houston that does not want to budge. On November 3, 2015, 61% of voters in Houston voted against a measure that established discrimination protection for LGBT residents. LGBT employees in Houston are now protected by a nondiscrimination measure only via an executive order. Fort Worth was the first city in Texas to institute protection for all individuals based on sexual orientation in 2000, which it expanded to include gender identity in 2009.